


In Between What We See

by Nan119



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:20:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6647860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nan119/pseuds/Nan119
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More to the episodes than we see. Scenes that are missing. Scenes I wanted to see. Mostly May and Daisy centric. I've decided to continue this thru the hiatus - the 6 months before the jump. How I would like the story to go and my take on how I wish the characters would be. Bonding. All the major characters will be in this. Hints of Philinda - cause they are end game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Melinda May sat slumped in the pilot chair. As pain went this was pretty bad. She winced as the chair shook a bit from the plane's vibrations. Along with the mild concussion she knew she had and the horrible headache that came with it, she had multiple wounds from the glass she slammed into when Giyera had taken over the plane's controls. Simmons had dug out a few bigger pieces but Melinda knew she would need a full exam once they got back to the base. Phil walked by again and Melinda shot him another dirty look. He was hovering and Melinda hated hovering. She was actually surprised that Daisy was not doing some hovering of her own, but she struck that up to Daisy sticking to her inhuman team. Melinda was so proud of her and what she had done. She had known she needed to get that call to Daisy cause Daisy would come and help them. Melinda had only hoped she would have had a plan and call for reinforcements. Daisy had not disappointed. Melinda glanced over to Daisy trying to catch her eye but Daisy was looking out the window with a little smile on her face. I will just have to talk to her later Melinda thought. 

Jemma stepped up next to her and crouched down, checking the bandage she had quickly applied when it became clear that Melinda indeed needed to fly the plane home to the base. 

Melinda batted her away. "I'm fine for now Jemma. You can have at me when we get back." 

I'm just making sure the bleeding has slowed May. You can't be angry at me for caring." 

Melinda shot her a small smile. "No actually I am grateful Jemma but there isn't much you can do now. I have to fly us home." 

Fitz came around Melinda's other side. He offered her some tablets and water. "Yeah we know that. But at least take some motrin and drink the water. It will help a little bit but still let you stay alert." 

Melinda took the offered pills and popped them in her mouth, taking a swig of water to down them. "Thank you." 

Fitz smiled and reached for Jemma's hand. "Come on let's sit. You've had a rough day too Jemma."

Melinda watched as he gently led Jemma to a chair and they sat down, talking in hushed voices. 

"So you listen to Fitz and not to me." 

Melinda looked up to see Phil still hovering near her. "Shut up."

He laughed. "Honestly Melinda you will be the death of me yet. You will get into bed when we get back to the Playground and listen to what they tell you to do. Got it?" 

Melinda rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on flying the plane. Phil knelt down next to her. 

"I was worried. When I saw Fitz and Mack dragging you and saw you couldn't walk. I was worried." 

Melinda sighed and then reached her hand to pat him on his knee. "I'm fine Phil. Just mostly banged up. I've had worse." 

Phil sighed. "Maybe. But I know you Mel. And I know when you are in pain. And on a scale of 1-10 you're at about an 11. Don't even try to lie." 

The denial never got to her lips as instead her lips turned upward into a smile as she slipped her hand in his. He moved to sit on the floor next to her as she headed the plane home. 

Hours later Melinda was sitting up in a hospital bed watching Fitz and Simmons examining the dead inhuman. She moved to sit up better and promptly regretted it as a wave of pain from her injured right side jolted into her. She winced and closed her eyes. As the pain and nausea passed, she opened her eyes to see Daisy and the other three inhumans pass by in the hallway. She watched Daisy but Daisy did not look at her and quickly moved away. Melinda thought it a bit odd that she didn't come to check on her but shook it off figuring Daisy had other pressing things to do. 

Melinda's attention moved back to Fitz and Simmons who were excitedly talking and moving the dead inhuman past her and down the hallway. She watched as they appeared to be up to something. Or maybe they were just excited about examining a dead inhuman. Who knew with them. 

A few moments later she saw Yoyo, Lincoln and Daisy had walked back in the room. It appeared that Yoyo was angry but she couldn't hear what anyone was saying. Yoyo stomped off and Daisy looked dejected. She watched as Lincoln stepped toward Daisy and touched his head to hers. Melinda looked away. 

A few moments later Lincoln walked over to her. He had a syringe in his hand. She batted it away. The injection Jemma had given her when they got back to base had put her out. She did not want to be drugged up right now. Lincoln actually looked hurt at her rejection of his help. That's when Daisy stepped in. 

"Give me a minute with her." 

Lincoln nodded and stepped away from Melinda. 

Daisy added. "Meet me in my room." 

Lincoln nodded while Melinda rolled her eyes.

Daisy directed her attention back to Melinda. "How are you doing? Really?"

Melinda decided to be upfront. "I'm in a lot of pain and I hate this hospital gown." 

Daisy raised her eyebrow and gave her a tight grin. "Hmmm........you think?"

Melinda grimaced a bit then looked at the younger woman. "You did good today. You led them well." 

Daisy sighed. "Does it ever get any easier?" 

"Only harder." She paused a second. "Why"

"I think Coulson's having me lie to them about the base lockdown. They can feel it." 

Melinda's mind scrambled for a minute. The base was on lockdown? She kept her face neutral. "Sometimes it's the job." 

"Doesn't feel right." 

"If he's withholding, I'm sure it's for the right reasons." It better be for the right reasons, Melinda corrected in her mind. 

Daisy gave a quick nod and turned to leave. Melinda watched as more and more activity went on around her and out in the hallway that she could see. She got up and walked to her room. She changed into her clothes and headed to Coulson's office. She saw Mack but no sign of Phil.

"You want to tell me what the hell is going on."

If Mack was surprised to see her, he didn't let it show. He filled her in and a few minutes later they got a call from Fitz that both he and Simmons were on their way. Fitz confirmed Malick was correct. Mack shook his head and muttered something about science fiction crap and called Coulson on his comm. 

A minute or so later Coulson flung open the door and entered his office. 

"Why are you calling me out of an interrogation?" That he directed at Mack and upon seeing May his frustration intensified. "What the hell are you doing out of bed?" 

Melinda just shrugged. "Fitzsimmons are on their way. They confer Lucio's infection. Malick wasn't lying." 

"I so badly hoped he was." 

The three then discussed their options. They went with the best of the worst. Coulson sent Mack and Melinda to round up troops to take all four inhumans down with icers to quarantine them till they could find answers. 

 

Later on after everyone was contained, Melinda poured herself and Phil drinks. 

"Not you're fault Phil. Lincoln made it much harder when he took out the lights and killed Malick."

"Yeah but now I have three angry upset inhumans and one who is being controlled by whatever Ward became, the Hive thing."

"They left us no choice. At least Daisy was able to get them all to containment. She really helped us to deal with the problem. Now we wait for Fitzsimmons to get the test ready and we rule the others out and work on curing Lincoln."

"He is under that.... things' ....Hive's control. I know he would never hurt Daisy otherwise. She feels bad for having to take him down."

"She probably feels like she failed as a leader." 

"We talked. She does feel at fault. But her eternal optimism showed up." He smiled at her. 

"What'd she say?" 

"That they would be stronger next time. Told me I would see."

Melinda smiled and raised her glass to her lips. That's when the first shaking started. It started slow. Like a low rumble across the base. Melinda closed her eyes. Oh no. No, no. Not Daisy. 

Melinda met Phil's eyes which reflected back the grief she knew was in her own. Daisy had been infected and had played them all.


	2. I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Episode 20 Emancipation. Missing May/Daisy scene.

They didn't know what they would find on the quinjet. Agent Melinda May waited in the bay with a fully armed tactical unit as the jet docked under automatic control. When the base had received the call from Agent Johnson they had automatically flown the quinjet back to the base. No further communication had been heard from anyone on the jet. 

Melinda watched as the quinjet came to a stop. She motioned for the team to fall in behind her as she stood in front of the still closed doors. Once everyone was in place she spoke into her comm telling Fitz to open the quinjet. She stared into it as the door opened. There was no movement. Melinda stepped onto the plane and then she saw him. Lash was laid out on the floor on her left side of the quinjet and he was not moving. She moved to go to him, when a slight movement to her right grabbed her attention. There was a huddled form sitting on the floor against a seat hunched over. It was Daisy. She was staring at Lash. 

Melinda turned to the closest two agents behind her. "Dismiss everyone else and you two wait over there for my directions."

"Agent May, it's not safe to go in there by yourself."

"Do as I said agent. If I need any help you'll know soon enough."

The agent shrugged and both turned to follow the senior agent's orders. 

Melinda slowly walked up the ramp. She looked over to Lash, her stomach turning into knots and a sense of dread overcoming her. She found herself standing in front of Daisy who had yet to look up. Melinda knelt down in front of her. 

"Daisy?" 

Daisy slowly looked up at Melinda. Melinda felt sick. Daisy was pale, she had dark circles under her eyes, her lips were chapped, and she looked sick. Worse than sick, like she was barely hanging on. 

"Daisy you need to get to medical. Melinda reached out her hand to put on Daisy's arm. Daisy jerked it back. It was then that Melinda noticed the blood and huge bruise on Daisy's right arm and the wrapped bandage around her left upper arm. That latter injury was from her when she shot Daisy to protect Mack. Melinda looked back at Daisy's face to see if this was just another trap of Hive's. She could still see the cuts not fully healed that Daisy has gotten from her encounter with Malick on the roof. How had all that happened been over such a short period of time? Daisy glanced at Melinda and quickly looked away. 

"I'm sorry." She whispered. 

Melinda did not say anything. She moved to sit down next to her and waited for Daisy to say more. 

"He saved me." Daisy's face was distraught, and Melinda could see Daisy's eyes fill with pain. "He...he... took the.........he cured me. He took it out of me and saved me." Daisy wiped her face with her hand. "He carried me to the jet and ...." Daisy stopped and took a deep breathe. Then she continued. "James. He killed him." Daisy's shoulders started shaking and she dropped her head to her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs. 

Melinda looked over to Lash's body. She wanted to go to him, to mourn the loss of Andrew, to say goodbye. Because if what Daisy was saying was true, then inside the inhuman beast, the heart of Andrew had still beat. It must be true cause Daisy was here and she was no longer controlled by Hive. Melinda knew that instinctively. She knew that without a test. Melinda put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. Daisy tensed. She was shivering and shaking and Melinda's heart was breaking as she heard muffled sobs coming from her. 

Melinda shuffled closer to Daisy and wrapped her arm around the girl, pulling Daisy closer. Daisy hesitated for a second and then she lifted her head and leaned over onto Melinda's shoulder and wrapped her arm around her waist. 

"I'm sorry." Daisy whispered again. Melinda felt her shirt getting wet from the tears falling and hugged the girl tighter to her. They stayed like that for a few more minutes. 

"Daisy you have to go and let them test you. And you need medical attention. "What was he doing to you?" 

"He wanted my blood. To make inhumans. He needs more and more."

Melinda's hand brushed across the bandage on Daisy's arm. " I'm sorry I shot you." 

Daisy shook her head. "I'm glad you shot me." 

One of the agents walked part way onto the ramp. "Agent May they are expecting Agent Johnson now."

Melinda nodded. "Give us a moment."

Melinda pulled away from Daisy. "What about Hive? Is he dead?"

Daisy shook her head. 

"You need to go. They are going to tie your hands."

Daisy nodded. She stood up but her body continued to shake. Melinda took off her jacket and placed it over Daisy's shoulders. 

"Daisy I need to stay here for a while."

"Yeah." Daisy looked over at Lash and bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry."

"Daisy it's okay. He saved you. That's a good thing. "Melinda reached up to brush Daisy's hair out of her eyes. "I'm glad you're home Agent Johnson."

Daisy felt a tear escape. Melinda reached over and brushed it away. "I'll come by soon to see you."

Daisy nodded. She walked off the quinjet holding her hands out to the two agents. As they tied the restraints she looked back and saw Melinda kneeling by Andrew, crying. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears as she allowed the agents to guide her to the door. Facing her family after what she did was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done. The guilt weighing her down was not going away anytime soon. And maybe she didn't deserve absolution after all. She walked through the open door and it took everything for her to not break down as she walked down the hallway and saw their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm convinced that is May's jacket Daisy has wrapped around her when she enters the base with the two agents.


	3. Falling Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another little missing scene. From the end of the Finale. I wanted to see this. But the did a time jump instead. So I wrote this. Melinda knows what Daisy is going thru and she refuses to let her do it alone.

Melinda May's heart broke as she glanced around. The heaviness of pain filled the room as each member of their team realized what Lincoln has just done. Mack was looking at Daisy while Jemma and Leo had embraced and were holding on to each other, Jemma with tears on her face. Melinda looked at Phil who stood still also watching Daisy fall apart. The sobs were becoming louder. Phil looked over at Melinda, their eyes meeting and their grief shared. They lost another one. 

Daisy had sank down and was hugging her legs, her face buried in her knees, and her body shook from sobbing. She had not noticed the slight tremor on the floor that the others felt. Melinda moved then, crossing the short distance to Daisy and knelt by her side. She reached her hand to touch Daisy's shoulder, to give comfort. Daisy looked up at her mentor with tears falling and her breathe hitching and gasping, and Melinda felt her own tears start falling. She moved next to Daisy and tried to pull her in for a hug. Daisy looked at her questionably and then practically flung herself into Melinda's arms, grasping her around her shoulders and tightly clinging to the older woman. She sobbed into Melinda's shoulder as tears soaked into her uniform. 

Melinda held the younger woman and talked quiet, soothing words to her, while Daisy clung to her at first hysterically but slowly calming down till her breathing was more even and her shaking had stopped. Phil came over and stooped down to lay a hand on her shoulder in support and then he got up and motioned for Mack to follow him.

Melinda learned later that he had further secured the inhuman, James, and had set a course on the Zephyr One for home, back to the base. But her only concern right at that moment was comforting the young woman she had come to think of as a daughter. 

It had only been after she had confronted Phil about Daisy not being his daughter and the subsequent conversation they had later that night, that Melinda had finally admitted how much she cared for Daisy. In fact she had been in the middle of explaining that to Daisy, when she had been attacked from behind by Giyera. She had been so focused on trying to get Daisy's thoughts on helping to fix the problem and trying to shake Daisy back to herself, she had let her guard down. 

So Melinda held Daisy and let her cry, just allowing her to grieve the loss of a young man that Daisy most likely was in love with. A man who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the woman he loved would not have to. A man who did what every agent was supposed to do. To protect others and put them first. A man who Melinda had grown quite fond of and who she had respected. This loss would affect them all. And damnit it hurt. It hurt like hell. It all hurt. Losing Andrew again, knowing there was no longer hope he would return had crushed her. But she had persevered knowing her help was needed to take down Hive. She had compartmentalized her grief and sorrow and pushed it back in her mind, telling herself she would grieve later for the man she had once loved. Now holding Daisy those emotions were climbing back to the surface and she was barely holding it together as well. 

Melinda held Daisy tighter as she felt more of her own tears escape. This was going to devastate Daisy, and her hysterical sobbing was only the beginning. Melinda knew this road would be hard, and it would hurt like hell. Melinda ran her arms up and down Daisy's back attempting to bring comfort. She knew it was a futile attempt but did so nonetheless. No matter what happened, she would be there for Daisy and would show her how much she did care about the young woman who had wormed her way past Melinda's facade and straight into her heart. 

 

Days later, Daisy was still staying in the containment pod. It was a self imprisonment, as Daisy felt everyone would be safer if she were locked up. Although no one agreed, Jemma did say that it would give her time to get over the withdrawal symptoms from Hive and allow her body to heal more from the blood loss and exhaustion. Everyone on the team tried to see Daisy but she would not talk to anyone. Jemma brought her food and meds and Daisy did eat because Jemma threatened the alternative of an IV if she would not. 

Daisy alternated between crying and sleeping for the most part the first day. They were still monitoring her. She didn't seem to care that they were. Then the next day Daisy just sat on the bed and stared at nothing. It was disconcerting and alarming that she was mostly so still and quiet. Everyone agreed it was just her way of grieving.

Everyone else was busy cleaning up the mess left by Hive at the base and they were dealing with Lincoln's loss each in their own way. Jemma and Leo went back to work to try and find a cure for their fellow agents who had been turned into inhuman primitives. The primitives and James had been taken to a secure facility to be held. Elena had called Joey and filled him on what had happened and he had come to the base to help. Elena was healing nicely from her wounds but was still recovering, and could not do much herself. Mack doted on her and everyone found that kind of adorable. 

Even though everyone else thought leaving Daisy alone to grieve and process everything was for her own good, Melinda knew different. She knew how those thoughts festered and how dark they became. She volunteered for watch duty most of the time, keeping an eye on the young woman. Melinda had tried that first day to stay with Daisy, but Daisy had pushed her away and begged her to leave. So she did. She left her alone and everyone else followed Daisy's wishes to be alone as well. 

Melinda gave Daisy two days and then decided that she had enough. She entered the code for the pod door and walked in. Daisy was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. Her lunch tray sat on the table only half eaten. Melinda looked Daisy up and down. She had on a pair of old jeans and a sweatshirt, was barefoot and her hair was greasy. 

As Melinda walked toward her, Daisy turned her head to see who it was. Upon seeing Melinda she turned her head back and shook it. 

"I don't want to see anyone. Please go away." 

Melinda paused. She normally would respect such a request, normally would have kept her boundaries in place. But this was Daisy, their Daisy, the young woman who had sealed a place in her heart, so she pushed forward knowing that she might be the only one able to get through to her. 

"I can't do that." Melinda stopped in front of the bed. "I can't let you carry all this by yourself." 

Daisy said nothing for a few minutes, so Melinda sat on the bed waiting. She'd wait. She had a lot of practice waiting people out. Daisy finally turned her head to look at Melinda.

"It was all caused by myself so I should be here dealing with it by myself."

"I get you feel guilty Daisy. Hell we all feel guilty. Everything we did I keep second guessing. I keep wondering what we could have done differently. What we did wrong. How things could have been changed to make a different outcome. But you know what. It doesn't change what happened. It doesn't change the fact that Lincoln's gone, that we lost so much and we are never going to get any of it back." 

Daisy's eyes pooled with tears. 

"But for some reason fate allowed us to live. To survive this. We were given more time. And we need to move forward with that. We need to honor what Lincoln did and we need to push through all this hurt and anger and continue to live."

"I was supposed to die. I was supposed to be the one in the quinjet. Not Lincoln. He died for me. How do I live with that Melinda?" Daisy's voice cracked and she started sobbing. "I...I....jjuuuust. miss him. I nnnneeed hhhim heeeere." 

Melinda slide forward on the bed and wrapped her arms around Daisy.

"I can't do this." I ...I ...I ccccan't." Daisy leaned onto Melinda, her arms wrapping around her waist and laid her head on her shoulder. "I don't know how to do this." 

Melinda squeezed tighter. "We do this together." 

Phil walked into the control room and saw Mack and Elena watching the screen. He looked at it and saw Daisy wrapped in Melinda's arms sobbing. He walked over and turned off the monitor. He turned to Mack.

"Let's give them some privacy." 

Mack and Elena nodded. Mack spoke up. "I hope she can help her."

Phil's lips twitched upward. "I hope they can help each other. Daisy is not the only one who lost someone." 

Mack nodded somberly. Elena reached over to Coulson and squeezed his him. "Give them time. Give yourself time too Director. You need to have faith."

Phil smiled at the couple and then walked back to his office. He sat on the sofa and sighed. Then he did something a long time coming that he had not done for a long time. He cried. He cried for himself and what he allowed himself to become. He cried for his best friend who lost Andrew, not once but several times in the last few months. He cried for the young woman, currently an emotional wreck blaming herself for his crimes. He cried for a young man who put everyone else before his own needs and sacrificed himself for the woman he loved. He cried for a woman he was just starting to know who was cut down way to early because of revenge. He sat for a very long time on that couch thinking of all they had lost. Wondering if any of it was worth it. Wondering just how in the hell any of them were going to come back from this?

Melinda held on to the younger woman. She was getting better at this comforting thing. Daisy pulled away after a few more minutes, wiping at her eyes and sniffling. Melinda stretched to grab a few tissues off the night stand handing them to Daisy.

"Thanks." 

They both knew Daisy meant more than just the tissues. After a few moments Daisy looked back up at Melinda with red eyes. 

"I can't do this Melinda. I can't." 

"Yet you have to. And you will. Just as we all will."

Daisy shook her head. "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to see people die. I can't put more people in danger."

"You are not putting people in danger Daisy. This job, this life....it is a choice. You are not responsible for what other people choose. You can only be responsible for your own choices. Even then circumstances twist things around and those choices can hurt people."

Daisy shook her head. "No it's my fault Melinda. All of it. You can say different, but I know. I made the decision to go to Hive. That decision caused all of you to have your lives in danger."

Melinda laughed abruptly. "No Daisy. Our lives were already in danger. You want to second guess things? How about the fact that we brought Hive to the base? How about us not being on the lookout for Giyera? Bringing Hive here to a vulnerable base. Quite honestly I'm surprised it wasn't worse. We lost some good agents. We almost lost Leo and Jemma, and Elena. You. Daisy we almost lost you."

"You should have lost me." It was merely a whisper but Melinda heard it loud and clear. "I deserved to die. Not Lincoln. Not those agents. All the things I did. I put everyone at risk. I am a monster. Just like they said. Just like Sif and the Kree, and everyone said I would be." 

Melinda sat shocked. Is that what Daisy saw? Is that what she was seeing now? "Daisy. No you are not. This...this mess. This whole thing. This was brought on because of Hive. He is the monster. The one who controlled you and tried to destroy the world. This is on him." 

"And what Melinda.?I get absolution? Forgiven? I still hurt people. I let Hive get to me and sway me. I liked it Melinda. I wanted to do those things. I hurt Fitz and I almost killed Mack. I would have if you hadn't shot me. I killed Malick and allowed those other people to die."

"You were being controlled."

"Was I? I liked being under it Melinda. I felt.....I felt whole. Complete. Like it was everything that was missing from my life. I was happy." 

Melinda paused and brought her left hand under Daisy's chin lifting it and brushed her hair out of her eyes with her right hand. The soft caring gesture brought tears to Daisy's eyes which she tried to blink back. "Was it your choice? Did you want Hive to do that?"

"Of course not. But once I was part of him, part of everyone, it all made sense. It was real Melinda. I felt like I'd come home."

A few tears escaped and ran down her cheeks. Melinda used her thumbs to brush them away. 

"Hive used who you are Daisy. He used your vulnerability. Your fear of rejection. Your fear of abandonment that hides here." Melinda tapped on her heart."

"It's not just a fear when it always comes true." Daisy's face twisted into anger. "Is it?" 

"Daisy. I'm still here. Leo and Jemma are here. Mack is here. Elena is here. Coulson is here."

Daisy pulled back and brought her knees up and clasped her hands around them. She sniffed and then looked at Melinda. "Lincoln's not here."

"No he isn't." 

"That should have been me in the jet. Not him. I saw the vision. It was supposed to be me." 

"No Daisy. No one can change the future. That was Lincoln's destiny all along. Don't cheapen his sacrifice by pretending otherwise." 

Daisy recoiled back and looked sharply at Melinda. "How dare you. How dare you even say that." 

"It's the truth Daisy. You know there is one thing I'll never do and that is sugarcoat the truth. You weren't meant to die Daisy. Lincoln sacrificed his life for yours. He must have thought it was pretty damn important to do that. And I'm not going to lie Daisy. I'm damn glad you are still here. I don't think I could take losing both Andrew and you at the same time." Melinda ignored the tears now falling freely from her eyes. "You have come to mean a great deal to me Daisy Johnson. A great deal. When we were on the quinjet, I told you I made you an agent. Which I did. But I wanted to say so much more."

Daisy almost smiled at that. 

"I wanted to tell you so much more. How damn proud I am of you. How much you helped me. How much you helped me to remember who I was. How much you reminded me that I did not have to live in the past and could move on. Now I want to help you do that Daisy. Is there guilt? Yes. And it may never fully go away. But you have to move on from it. Use it to make sure you don't make the same mistakes. Use it to protect everyone else. Every mission Daisy someone could die. You need to come to terms with that. Or you will be no good out there."

"Melinda.. I " 

"I'm not done. Is there fear? Yes. Everyone assumes I am afraid of nothing. They're wrong. I'm afraid, I just don't allow it to consume me. If I do, then everything I fear could come true. I'm afraid of losing the people I love. This team. But I can't let that or guilt consume me. If I do, I will lose people. We all have out crosses to bear Daisy. Phil is blaming himself for this entire mess. If he had not killed Ward on that planet, Hive would have had no dead body to enter. And Fitz, he blames himself. He thinks he started it all by opening the door to the monolith accidently. Jemma blames herself for freeing Andrew and the inhumans he killed, and not being able to help cure you. Mack feels guilty cause he couldn't protect you. If it weren't for us and the Zephyr getting taken by Giyera, you and the Secret Warriors would not have needed to rescue us and you would not have gotten swayed so that's on me. If I would not have been so personally attached, I should have seen you were the one swayed and I know your hacker skills and I should have not let you escape here. Ifs Daisy. We all have so many of them. The blame is equally balanced. Enough to go around. You cannot take this all on you."

"I went to Hive so he would take me back. Not to fight him." Daisy looked up at Melinda and swallowed hard watching for her reaction. 

"I know. As I said we should not have had him brought here. There just didn't seem to be many options. Jemma told us you would crave that feeling. That you might seek to have it."

"Andrew. When he freed me he took away my ability to be infected again. He saved me twice." 

Melinda smiled. She brushed a few wayward hairs from Daisy's face letting her hand linger on her cheek. "Andrew thought a lot of you Daisy. He liked you a lot. He respected what you did, pushing forward with all you had been through. That's how we honor them Daisy. We keep pushing forward. Does it hurt. Yes sometimes unbearably. That's when we rely on those around us to help. To help carry the burden. I didn't. For so long I carried the burden of Bahrain alone. It almost destroyed me. I'm not going to let this destroy you Daisy."

Daisy buried he head in Melinda's shoulder again and hugged her close. "I don't know how to do this." 

"Neither do I Daisy. But how about we do it all together. Me and you, and Phil. Mack and Elena. Leo and Jemma. Joey. Joey came back after Elena called. He wants to help too."

Daisy sobbed then as Melinda just cradled her in her arms letting her cry it out. They would have to deal with Lincoln's memorial soon but that conversation could wait. It could wait a little while yet. Right now Melinda just needed to let Daisy understand she was not alone and never would be again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may write more missing scenes from the end of this scene through the 6 months before the time jump. I like reading comments. They inspire me to write more. Thanks for reading.


End file.
